Сколтех — новый технологический университет, созданный в 2011 году в Москве командой российских и зарубежных профессоров с мировым именем. Здесь преподают действующие ученые, студентам дана свобода в выборе дисциплин, обучение включает работу над собственным исследовательским проектом, стажировку в индустрии, предпринимательскую подготовку и постоянное нахождение в международной среде.

Архив метки: students

The Shared Rides Revolution: Skoltech Graduates Attempt to Shake Up Taxi Market with Start-Up

14/08/2015

Andrii Omelianovych, co-founder and developer of Sharxi, an app which aims to reduce the costs of taxi rides in Moscow. Image courtesy of Sharxi (click to enlarge)

With Uber, Gett and Yandex.Taxi already well-known in Moscow, it may seem that there is little room for yet another taxi app, but two Skoltech graduates hope their taxi-sharing start-up, Sharxi, can find a niche.

The goal of Sharxi, developed by Boris Urman and Andrii Omelianovych (15’), is to significantly reduce the cost of a taxi ride by pairing up strangers headed in the same direction. A potential user opens the app, puts in their current location and where they are headed, submits the order, and waits for the system to find other passengers whose planned routes are similar.

Sharxi, which was launched on May 10 and has been downloaded 200 times so far, makes money by contracting with official taxi companies and taking a commission on every ride booked through the app.

The $1 Billion Market

The goal of Sharxi’s founders is to cut the price of an average cab ride in Moscow from 1,050 rubles ($16) to 500 rubles ($7.50), as well as to reduce the number of cars on Moscow’s crowded roads. Particularly, they focus on travelers looking for rides from the city’s three main airports to the town center.

“The taxi market in Moscow is around $1 billion a year, and economy class makes up 55 percent of it. Our goal is to get at least 1 percent of the economy class — about $5 million a year,” Omelianovych told The Moscow Times newspaper.

Statistics from a report about the taxi market in Moscow shown on Russian TV’s Channel One in 2012 also put its value at about $1 billion, but an April report by the Civic Chamber estimated it far higher, at $16.5 billion.

The start-up faces some serious challenges. The idea of splitting a taxi ride via an app is not particularly new. For example, Uber already has a fare-splitting function called UberPool. Additionally, taxi users surveyed by The Moscow Times said that the price of individual rides was not so great as to encourage them to book a shared ride, citing other taxi apps that have reduced the cost of journeys and the desire to go directly to their destination without any detours as factors that would put them off.

But others said they would welcome the chance to save money by splitting the fare, and many of the users who have tried the app, which is currently in Beta testing, were positive about the cost of the service.

Sharxi – a shared rides app (click to enlarge)

The 500 Ruble Question

“I went from Vnukovo [Airport] to Aminyevskoye Shosse [in western Moscow] for 500 rubles ($7.50) — it was fun and fast!” a user who identified themselves as Vakhe wrote on the app’s website.

“Paid 500 rubles for a trip from Domodedovo [Airport] to Vyazemskaya Ulitsa [in western Moscow]. Great! Will definitely recommend to friends and family,” another test user, Lyuba, wrote.

Reviews of other aspects of the service were not so positive, however.

Among the main issues listed by users was the long wait to find another passenger.

“I was waiting for a co-passenger from Sheremetyevo [Airport] to Filyovsky Park [a district in western Moscow] and there was no one, so I had to take a single ride. Luckily I wasn’t in a hurry,” wrote user Ivan.

Another frequent issue mentioned in the reviews was passenger compatibility.

“We are thinking about adding a psychological survey for users, so passengers can be selected by temperament,” Omelianovych told The Moscow Times.

120 Startups

Sharxi is one of about 120 start-ups being developed at Skoltech and Skolkovo, a graduate research university that focuses on entrepreneurship and innovation and is located in west of Moscow.

One of the perks of being residents of Skolkovo, which was founded by former president and current Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev as Russia’s ‘Silicon Valley’, is easy access to investors and officials.

Although Urman and Omelianovych’s app has been downloaded only 200 times, they have already presented the app to City Hall’s transport department.

“The state officials said our idea is good but haven’t offered us any deal yet,” Urman told The Moscow Times. “We will keep in touch with them.”

The stiff competition on the Moscow market has Sharxi’s creators looking to Asia to develop the app further.

Last month, Skolkovo provided Urman and Omelianovych with tickets to Hong Kong to participate in the Smart Green Cities entrepreneurship forum at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

“The Asian market is huge and dynamic in comparison with the European one, which is overloaded with services,” Omelianovych told The Moscow Times, adding that he had lived in Seoul, South Korea for six years and is comfortable with the Asian environment.

“Potentially we can boom in Asia, but for that we need internal partners.”

This story is a slightly modified version of an original story about Sharxi which appeared in The Moscow Times. We thank the author and the publication.

Supporting Children with Disabilities: Smart Robots go to School

11/08/2015

Webot, a telepresence robot, replaces children who cannot attend school. photo courtesy of Wicron (click on image to enlarge)

Webot, a telepresence robot, supports children who cannot attend school by ‘representing’ them in class. photo courtesy of Wicron (click on image to enlarge)

The first Day of September is known in Russia as Den znanii (‘Knowledge Day’). All across the vast country, crowds of still-fresh students and somewhat-excited schoolchildren gather to hear university presidents and schoolmasters ring the ‘first bell’. The quaint ceremony traditionally marks the opening of the school year.

Yet for children with disabilities who can neither join the festivities nor attend class this day might be a difficult and painful one. But help is on the way: this year, for the first time in Russia, a smart telepresence robot will go to school. Webot, developed by a team of Skoltech PhD students, stands in for pupils who cannot attend class.

The mobile, friendly white robot will be installed in five elementary schools in the Astrakhan region. It is equipped with a flat screen, camera and microphone designed to easily transmit anything students with disabilities need to see and know: lectures, activities, or homework assignments.

Webot‘s round head unit and long ‘neck’ rotate in all directions, and the robot can follow any person – a teacher, a friend, even a first love. And if the home-ridden student wishes to answer a question, Webot will be happy to do that for them. The robot can even joke around.

Webot in the classroom. photo courtesy of Wicron (click on image to enlarge)

“Equality and Opportunity for all Children”

“It is like an avatar, allowing kids to move around, even from a distance”, says Stas Ashmanov, a Skoltech PhD student with Prof Ivan Oseledets and managing partner of Wicron, a Moscow based startup behind Webot and smart home assistants. “It is as if we ‘teleport’ kids from home to school. We want kids to know that even if they are in pain or limited in movement, they can still learn and grow and participate in school life. It is all about equality and opportunity for all children”.

How does the technology actually work? Webot’s functionalities are managed and controlled over the internet. All a remote student needs to do is switch on her or his home computer and go online. When connected to ‘its’ student, the robot immediately faces the user and represents it in the classroom. When fully charged, the robot’s battery lasts the whole day.

The developers – which include Ashmanov, along with fellow students Dmitry Suvorov and Roman Zhukov (PhD candidates under the guidance of prof Dzmitry Tsetserukou) – feel the ambitious project is a perfect example of Skoltech’s goal to create innovation that positively impacts society. Webot’s school tele-presence project was crowd funded, and receives support and guidance from Russia’s Ministry of Education. Currently, each of the five schools participating in the experiment received one robot. Future plans foresee more robots attending classrooms nationwide.

Text: Ilan Goren

Graduation Day: Watch the Video

06/08/2015

This summer, guests from 15 countries gathered in Moscow to celebrate a once-in-a-lifetime event – Skoltech’s first Commencement Ceremony.

All eyes were on a group of excited students: our first batch of graduates, who celebrated their time exploring and creating with the innovation university. Watch the highlights in the video, join the celebration and hear the students’ stories. Class of 2015: Throw your caps up in the air!

(For more details see below, or read the full story about graduation day)

Ceremony Highlights

• Six students collected “Outstanding Thesis Awards” for scientific excellence.
• Announcement of the establishment of an Alumni Association tasked with administering a student Startup Project Challenge and a million ruble award. A third of the sum was collected by the graduates.
• Commencement speeches by graduates Anna Dubovik (MSc IT), Andrii Omeliyanovich (MSc Energy), and Dmitry Smirnov (MSc Energy).
• Skoltech leadership raised four million rubles for a student grant scheme.
• Closing the ceremony, Skoltech president Edward Crawley announced the establishment of a ‘best teacher award’ in honor and memory of his father.

Key Figures and Facts

• Fifty two master’s students in IT, Energy, Space, and Advanced Manufacturing are expected to graduate from Skoltech by the end of 2015.
• The inaugural group of students, some of whom joined the innovation-focused university as early as 2012, hails from 15 countries.
• Thirty five percent of all graduates are women, and almost half of the graduating students were actively involved in startup projects or established their own companies during their time with Skoltech.
• A majority of students studied and worked at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), honing their skills as researchers and entrepreneurs – and their English.

“Young Energy Research Engineer” Summer School Session

Когда: 23-07-2015 09:30

Где: MR-402 (TPOC-3)

Mongolian Family Uses Solar Energy to Power Home

Renewable Energy can have an impact on many people’s lives. Image courtesy of United Nations Photo, Flickr

We invite students who have a bachelor degree in the field of Power and Electrical Engineering for a day of presentations and hands-on work. The event is organized and hosted by Skoltech Center for Energy Systems in collaboration with the “Young Research Engineer” scientific and practical summer school, held each year by the Moscow Power Engineering Institute. Representatives of large energy companies , partners and major employers will attend the event (e.g. RusHydro and MOESK).

Date: July, 23

Time: 9.30 a.m. – 4.00 p.m.

Location: MR-402 (TPOC-3)

The schedule for first part of the day consists of presentations by Skoltech research centers. After lunch participants will have an opportunity to visit a lab and, be given a practical scientific challenge to be solved in groups. Students will be using their knowledge and the state-of-the-art lab equipment.

Full program:

9.30-9.35: Opening word, Anna Sharova

9.35-9.50: Introductory Presentation about the Skoltech, Bram Caplan

9.50-10.15: Presentation about Student’s programs, Bram Caplan

10.15-10.35: Presentation of Center for Energy Systems, Janusz Bialek

10.35-10.55: Presentation of Center for Energy Storage, Keith Stevenson

10.55-11.10 Break

11.10-11.30 Presentation of Center for Oil and Gaz, Dmitry Tyagysov

11.30-11.50 Presentation of Center for Design, Manufacturing and Materials, Dmitry Katalevsky

11.50-12.10 Presentation of Space Center, Chistianna Taylor

12.10-12.30 Presentation of Intellectual space lab of Robotics, Dzmitry Tsetserukou

13.00-14.00 lunch

14.00-16.00 laboratory work (lab of Center for Energy Systems)

Our First Graduates: “We Are Ready to Impact the World”

23/06/2015

Skoltech graduate Anna Dubovik: “I want to prove that a Skoltech alumna is a person ready to impact the world”.

When Anna Dubovik got on stage to deliver an address on behalf of fellow students at Skoltech’s first graduation ceremony, those who knew her – and many in the 300-strong audience did – expected smiles. The affable go-getter certainly did beam with her by-now-trademark good vibes.

But then the IT program graduate proceeded to reminisce about how before joining Skoltech, her mother had worried whether the young student-to-be should bet on the nascent university. “My mom was a little skeptical. Eventually she only asked that whatever I choose, I should be resolute in seeing it through, be a fighter”, Dubovik took a breath.

”Well, I did exactly that. And it was worth it: I got my degree, and I got to learn from and work with outstanding researchers, I got some amazing friends. But most of all,” tearing up, she looked around at the crowd gathered at the inner courtyard of Skoltech’s new building, “the strong, smart women that I discovered at Skoltech inspired me to challenge myself every day.”

Echoing this emotion, the university’s president, Prof Ed Crawley, quoted a fellow researcher from MIT and stressed the importance of what he called “heart”. Emotional drive and passion, said Crawley, are the forces that make or break a young research institute. Judging science and innovation by numbers only is not enough.

Winners of the “Outstanding Thesis Awards” on stage with Russian first deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich.

Having said that, guests at the commencement ceremony – such as Russian first deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich who serves as the institute’s Chairman of the Board of Trustees – as well as the university’s leadership, know that key stats and KPIs do play an important role.

Startup Culture

Fifty two master’s students in IT, Energy, Space, and Advanced Manufacturing are expected to graduate from Skoltech by the end of 2015. The inaugural group of students, some of whom joined the innovation-focused university as early as 2012, hails from 15 countries. Thirty five percent of all graduates are women, and almost half of the graduating students were actively involved in startup projects or established their own companies during their time with Skoltech. A majority studied and worked at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), honing their skills as researchers and entrepreneurs – and their English.

And now, having celebrated their achievements with the likes of Russian PM Dmitry Medvedev, students and staff feel it is time to give back to the organization. Dmitry Smirnov, one of six students who collected “Outstanding Thesis Awards” for scientific excellence, announced the establishment of an Alumni Association tasked with administering a student Startup Project Challenge and a million ruble award . A third of the sum was collected by Smirnov and his colleagues. Skoltech leadership raised a further four million rubles for a student grant scheme and, closing the ceremony, Prof Crawley announced the establishment of a ‘best teacher award’ in honor and memory of his father.

President Crawley: the importance of “heart”

Smirnov believes that “the one big advantage we Skoltech students had over anyone studying in traditional Russian universities is that we worked on our projects in flexible teams. The other is that the curriculum and internships constantly pushed us to embrace a simple truth about applied research – it has to provide value, to produce a high return on investment.”

Equipped with this ambitious-yet-realistic approach he now hopes to become a serial entrepreneur in the up and coming field of “Internet of Energy”. Smirnov will stay on in Skoltech as a PhD student with Prof Alessandro Golkar of the Strategic Innovation Research Group (SIRG.)

Start a Future

While some graduates envision an academic career combining entrepreneurship and research, others plan to join established companies (Intel and Cisco are two coveted destinations) or work with public organizations. Dubovik, along with two other IT grads is starting to work at the Data Analysis Laboratory recently launched by Moscow City’s departments of Healthcare and Information Technology.

“Our main aim is to apply data analysis to provide government officials with insights leading to decisions that improve life in Moscow”, she says, “I want to prove that a Skoltech alumna is a person ready to impact the world in the long run”.

Andrii Omelianovych: "I want this university to be proud of me”

Andrii Omelianovych (center): “I want this university to be proud of me”

Then there are those who dream to build the next unicorn startup. Enter Andrii Omelianovych, another Outstanding Thesis Awards’ laureate, plans to stay on at Skoltech as a PhD student with the institute’s Electrochemical Energy Storage research center. These days Omelianovych is launching a shared ride startup called Sharxi, along with fellow graduate Boris Urman.

“Skoltech brought to my life a culture of perseverance and encouragement”, he explains. “Trials, errors, failures are all learning experiences. Then you start all over again until you achieve something real. Now I am going through a similar process, but in the real world. I want my startup to optimize transportation in Moscow”.

That sounds like a big load on your plate.

“Yes. But having big ambitions is something I learned at Skoltech. I want this university to be proud of me”.

Text: Ilan Goren. Photos: Vitaly Shustikov and Ilan Goren

Skoltech’s graduating Class of 2015

Shakespeare Meets Autocorrect as Language Technology Comes of Age

27/03/2015

Language Technologies final projects: IT students Tatiana Svistova (front) and Anastasia Pukalova presenting their work.

“In fair Verona, where we lay our scene”. What would happen if the quintessential opening line from Romeo and Juliet, written by William Shakespeare, was read out as “in fair Moscow..”?

Good question.

Skoltech IT students, with the guidance of Professor Anatole Gershman of the Language Technologies Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, were asked to tackle one of the biggest question in information technology: how can developers harness the immense power of super computers, social networks and sophisticated algorithms to communicate better – not only with the machines but with other people.

The students’ efforts resulted in an array of applications and prototypes, showcased at the Language Technologies final presentations event.

Projects varied from a smart CV writing application that might help you survive the merciless resume screening that companies such as Google or Intel use when they assess job applications; “Moscow Social” – an app that measures the mood in different parts of the city by analyzing emotions expressed in tweets; novelty detection in news articles; an application that recognize’s a film’s name by analyzing one short quote a user might remember (similar to the way the Shazam app identifies whole music tracks from brief samples); improved text prediction and better ‘auto-correct'; and even poetry reading assistance. Which brings the discussion back to Shakespeare: this app can help people who misread texts by the bard, or any other writer for that matter.

Anatole Gershman who taught the Language Technologies course at Skoltech works at Carnegie Mellon University.

Anatole Gershman who taught the Language Technologies course at Skoltech is a professor at Carnegie Mellon University.

Prof Gershman: “The whole point is to develop solutions to real world problems. My experience tells me that nobody learns only from listening to lectures – you need to learn by doing. This is what the course was about and this is what Skoltech is about.

“The students were asked to create six mini-projects and then develop a final big project. Some of the things we have seen here today were very impressive so I cannot wait to see these prototypes grow into commercially viable projects.”

Some of the students said they are in talks with leading communications and IT companies. Others have pitched their projects to polling centers and e-commerce operators.

(Text and Photos: Ilan Goren)

Opportunities: New Language Technology Courses Open to Outside Participants

26/01/2015

Language technologies have been around for a long time, but have gone through a revolution in recent years. Photo: The Royal broadcast, Christmas 1934, courtesy of Wikipedia

Skoltech is proud to announce a unique opportunity for students with a background in Information Technology to join a newly developed graduate level 8-week Language Technologies courses offered, alongside with Skoltech students.

The courses on offer (see below) are available this upcoming Term 3 of the spring semester.

Please note that course participation will be offered free of charge and participants will be selected on a competitive basis and that language of instruction will be English only.

INTRODUCTION TO LANGUAGE TECHNOLOGIES

Term 3 Spring semester 2015

Study period: February 2, 2015 – March 27, 2015

Where: Skolkovo Innovation Center, Hypercube

Contact and info: Yana Kraskovskaya

Tel. +7 (495) 280 14 81 ext.34-04

Course Description

The course will give students a practical sense of current capabilities of Language Technologies, their underlying principles and business applications. It will cover 6 major components of Language Technologies: Information Retrieval, Information Extraction, Machine Translation, Speech Recognition, Text and Speech Generation, and Communication with Devices. Each area will be covered with an overview lecture, practical exercises and a discussion of trends and applications. Last 2 weeks will be dedicated to short projects by groups of students. Utilization of the state-of-the-art Open Source and commercial tools will be emphasized.

Intended Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:

Articulate the key principles and methods underlying Language Technologies
Assess applicability of Language Technologies for solving business problems
Select appropriate tools
Build simple applications

Course instructors: Anatole Gershman

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~anatoleg/

Independent Studies Period – When Students Teach and Learn from Each Other

16/01/2015

When Steve Jobs delivered a commencement address to Stanford graduates in 2005 the great guru of innovation explained why taking calligraphy classes as a young student had changed his life. It made the Macintosh computer’s beautiful typography possible. It made Apple possible. Jobs implored his listeners to follow their inner passions. “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards’, he said. “The only way to do great work is to love what you do.”

It seems that this message resonates well with Skoltech students, even if they have not heard the famous speech.

The most creative period of the academic year at Skoltech kicked off on January 12, as students ditched the textbooks (but not their laptops) to teach and learn from each other everything from Skateboarding through Brain-Computer Interface Design to Stock Trading.

A Skoltech student instructor at a Cooking and Science class during ISP (independent Studies Period)

Dubbed Independent Studies Period (or ISP), it is a unique Skoltech term running through most of January. It is designed to add an extra dimension to the curriculum, a time when students gain new skills, tackle novel ideas and build their own community. To this end ISP activities are distinguished by their range and innovative spirit.

Students take part in a series of courses that range from the career-boosting – “Elevator pitches in extreme conditions” and “Real entrepreneurship and smart investing” – to simple hobbies – cooking and science, theater, dance and debate.

Students are also invited to dive into Lego robotics, video production, volleyball, 3D printing, C++ programming, or even fly a Cessna 172 plane.

Skoltech is a private graduate research institution that is a central component of the Skolkovo innovations ecosystem. It educates global leaders in innovation, advances scientific knowledge, and fosters new technologies to address critical issues facing Russia and the world. Applying international research and educational models, the university integrates the best Russian scientific traditions with twenty-first century entrepreneurship and innovation.

The university’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CEI) estimates that 60 percent of all graduate students are actively involved in startup projects or have established their own company.

Skoltech students attending a workshop during ISP (independent Studies Period).

At the FPGA programming class, taught by students.

Skoltech students attending a Video Production and Visual Storytelling ISP class, taught by volunteer media professionals.

Space student Veronika Shteyngardt takes her fellow students on a journey through astronomy.
Image courtesy of So Punyapat.

Is lemonade supposed to bubble like this? Independent Studies Period at Skoltech continues until the end of January.

Is lemonade supposed to bubble that much? Independent Studies Period at Skoltech continues until the end of January.

Russian and American students work together on robotics’ projects in Moscow. In this case – a collaboration between students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), MISIS and Skoltech.

Some ISP activities involve experts and professionals from outside of Skoltech. In this photo, a National Instruments engineer teaches at a masterclass on “Prototyping of Software Defined Radio Systems”.

Snowboarding course at Moscow's Nagornaya Ski Club

Snowboarding course taught by students at Moscow’s Nagornaya Ski Club

Skoltech students and brothers Bogdan and Artur Uzbekov demonstrate sound recording as part of the Music Production course. Photos courtesy of course instructor Brendan Smith